My coop was not in class on Thursday. This made me feel a little excited and somewhat apprehensive at the same time. I was excited to see how I was going to be able to handle a hundred students myself. Well, not entirely myself. I had a was a sub with me. I was also apprehensive because my coop had not miss an entire day since I started teaching and I was not sure what was going to happen. Over all, the day was a success. There were some minor issues and interuptions that probably would not have occured if my coop was present especially in period three. They are good students but they like to talk when my coop is not there and they pretend I am not there. The problem I have had since I started student teaching here is I feel like a "guest". And when I feel like a guest, I "act" like a guest. Since I have been acting like a guest, the students in this class noticed this and respond by chatting with their friends. This obviously had to stop. And I had to stop feeling like a guest. During this class, I had to unleash the same voice and set the same tone I use when I have to remove someone from my restaurant. This not only change the tone of the class but it also made me feel less like a guest and more of the feeling of belonging here. Since this got their attention, I finally realized these are "my" students and this is "my" classroom when I am teaching in it. The most valuable part of the week for me was when I rid myself of the feelings of a guest and replaced them with the feeling of belonging.
I started teaching a computer applications class last week but the entire week consisted of a week long introduction of content with a test on Monday. I began teaching skills on Wednesday. I thought I was well prepared. My lesson plans were good and I reviewed all of the material more than once before Wednesday and Thursday. I began teaching Microsoft Word 2007 on Wednesday. After an introduction to the lesson, the students were supposed to continue working on their own following the step by step instructions in the text. But something went wrong. Some of the students were lost. Others were trying but progress was slow. As I continued I realized there was some confusion. The text was not exactly accurate with the Microsoft Word on the student's computers. These inconsistancies made the students think they could not understand the lesson. By the time class was over, most of the students had completed the lesson plan I had prepared for the day but the confusion lasted until the bell rang. I knew my problem immediately after class was over. I did not complete the exercises in the book step by step as the students were supposed to. Sure, I knew the material. I could do these exercises in my sleep. But I should have completed these exercises exactly how I expected the students to complete them. I should have opened the book and begun with the first step on the first page. If I had done so, I would have noticed the inconsistancies in advance and would have been better able to make the students aware of the problems with the text. This is the part of my week I would like to go back and change.
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I know exactly what you mean with feeling like a guest. I think we have probably all gone through that, or are still going through that and you make a very good point that classroom management first starts with an internal attitude we have, which in turn sets the tone for the rest of our classes. I'm reminded of my public speaking teacher at King's College that spent a considerable amount of time teaching us about "Presence" and the importance of achieving a positive presence. He often said, "even if you don't have authentic confidence, it's very important to 'fake it' so that the crowd doesn't know the difference." Whether or not it's necessary to fake it for a while, or if it comes more naturally, I have found this is definitely the first step in achieving the environment we need to be successful as teachers.
ReplyDeleteGreat work! Keep it up. *Half way home!!*
I know exactly what you mean about feeling like a guest at the school. i am just starting to feel like the classes I am teaching are my classes and this gives me the ability and control with the students. Also knowing what is in the textbooks and what programs are avaiable are important. I also had the the same problem with microsoft access. I did go through the step by steps before hand but some students were still encountering problems that I did not excatly know how to fix with that program. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most positive things I can say about the school that I'm at is that there was never a feeling of being a guest. The environment is so diverse that it's accepting of everyone. It's kind of like you'll sink or swim based on your willingness to play the game. It's really been an incredible experience for me. But, I can understand how you feel at Pine Grove. I felt the same way the couple of days that I was there. I think part of it is because the staff and students are trying to be courteous and welcoming and therefore elevate you to guest status. Good for you for taking control and no longer being at guest level. We need to be in the trenches in order for the students to look at us as belonging and not someone that shows up every day to watch what happens. I’ll bet you’ll be treated with a lot more respect from now on. BRAVO!! BTW, can we hear that voice in class one day?!! =)
ReplyDeleteThis is a very reflective posting Rob. I appreciate both your insight and your honesty.
ReplyDeleteCompleting all the assignments prior to assigning the work to students is mandatory. How can you know the time they will need to complete the assignment if you did not do it yourself? Remember Eric Jenson's formula for completion:
N X 3 or N X 4 for Grades 7-12
N X 4 or N X 5 for Grades 3-6
with N = the time it takes you to do the assignment from start to finish.